Disability rights groups have launched a Charter challenge against Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) provisions, seeking a court declaration that portions of the Canada Criminal Code are unconstitutional and thus of no force and effect. The legal challenge is based on sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantee the right to life, liberty, or security of the person and equal protection of the law without discrimination, respectively.
The plaintiffs, a coalition including Inclusion Canada, Indigenous Disability Canada, Council of Canadians with Disabilities, DisAbled Women’s Network Canada, and two individuals, argue that MAiD’s 2021 eligibility expansion violates the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities. The amendment allowed disabled individuals whose death was not reasonably foreseeable to access MAiD, which the plaintiffs claim “increases the risk that persons with a disability will be induced to end their lives as a response to suffering.”
Under section 15, the claim argues that MAiD systemically discriminates against persons with disabilities by presenting death as a viable medical treatment, thus increasing the risk of them opting for death rather than receiving necessary social and medical supports. In contrast, non-disabled individuals are typically offered management or treatment options for their conditions, not death. The section 7 claim adds that this systemic discrimination heightens the risk of premature death, thus violating an individual’s right to life and security of the person.
In a press release announcing the legal challenge, Krista Carr, Executive Vice-President of Inclusion Canada, stated that the law sends a “devastating message that life with a disability is a fate worse than death,” which undermines efforts toward equity and inclusion.
This is not the first challenge against MAiD, which has undergone several iterations. Another major controversy surrounds the goal to broaden eligibility to include individuals with mental illness as their sole underlying medical condition. The Government of Canada recently extended a delay in implementing this change to allow further review, now slated for March 17, 2027.
Prior to 2016, physician-assisted suicide was illegal in Canada. This changed after the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Carter v Canada, which ruled that prohibiting physician-assisted death for individuals suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition violated section 7 of the Charter. Consequently, Parliament legalized MAiD in 2016 for eligible adults.
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